


Rocking the Cradle

by kittypox



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU, Gen, M/M, Random - Freeform, obligatory Keith finds a baby Galra story, paternal Keith, running away from problems always works, scattering of original characters, slight Sheith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-23 21:41:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9679847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittypox/pseuds/kittypox
Summary: Keith took in the tiny Galra out of some sense of duty, not expecting her to change his life. Her presence  in his life causes great changes for the Voltron team. Alas, it isn't as easy being a single parent on the lam.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know how or why this happened, but I'm not mad. I've seen a few text posts and art of Keith rearing a Galra baby and it is just cute. 
> 
> This will be about 3 or 4 short chapters. 
> 
> Largely inspired by the song 'Rockabye' by Anne-Marie, Clean Bandit, and Sean Paul. 
> 
> *thumbs up* Galra baby antics and low-key Sheith are a go. 
> 
> Also, light Sheith warning; if you aren't a sheith fan turn back now.

If there were any good to come from ten thousand years of enslavement and universal strife, it was that the lions had learned to adapt to the particulars of their environments. Which meant adapting to having no pilots or more than one. Fortunately for Keith, Red was one such lion who had multiple pilots. She far preferred him, but there were times when she allowed others to fly her into battle. She was a fickle mistress, but she understood the necessities of the time they lived in. She would be mad at his leaving, but it was a necessary act of abandonment. 

“Are you certain about this?” Yador called as he climbed onto the wing of the pod he would flee in.

Keith looked back at the man who was fixing him with wide, uncertain red eyes, tail flicking between his legs anxiously. 

“Honestly, no, I’m not certain.” Keith admitted, pausing to sit on the wing. “But there doesn’t seem to be too much of a choice. This seems to be the safest route for everyone.”

Yador hummed a note of uncertainty, glancing at the cockpit where he knew the small purple infant was bundled up. Keith followed his gaze and steeled his resolve.

“At any rate,” he murmured, climbing into the cockpit and strapping in, “I’m leaving Red in your capable hands.”

“I’m sure the others won’t approve of this.”

“To be sure. That’s why I need you to buy me as much time as you can so I can be far from here when they notice.”

That would be a chore, Yador knew, hence why Keith was absconding in the middle of the night, but he would do his best. Being a child refugee himself, he knew the dangers of being entrenched in the rebellion. More homes than he could count had fallen to the militants dedicated to sniffing out and eradicating the rebels. If they could save this child from a fate of hopping from one settlement to the next, in constant fear for her life, he supposed it was worth it. 

Before sealing the cockpit, the pilots shared a long look, a thousand wordless thanks and well-wishes passing between them. Keith offered a salute before signaling for Yador to back away. The man returned the gesture, stepping back and watching the pod burst to life and then, within seconds, he was gone from sight.

Despite his best efforts to keep matters quiet, it did not take long for Keith’s absence to be noted. Insomnia was a common ailment of the paladins and not two hours after he had left, Hunk appeared in the hangar to perform maintenance and noted the absence of the pod. A headcount was immediately issued, culminating in all members gathered on the bridge of the Castle of Lions.

“I can not believe this.” Lance complained loudly, still yawning. “He just _left_?”

“About two and a half hours ago.” Pidge confirmed, checking the surveillance footage and time stamps. 

Shiro leaned over her shoulder to peer at the footage. “Did he take anything with him?”

“A few bags of supplies.” She paused, swallowed, and added nervously, “And her.”

There was a collective groan and a few choice comments about how expected this should have been. Shiro straightened, continuing to watch the video of Keith carefully placing the small Galra child in the pod before retrieving the supply bags. When Yador appeared in frame, he narrowed his eyes and turned on his fellow rebel.

“Anything you care to say, Yador?”

The man sighed, knowing his duplicity would be sniffed out quickly. His tail twitched furiously. “Look, I didn’t want him to go either, but he was adamant—and with reason. He wasn’t going to be deterred.”

“Then you tell one of us so we can stop him.” Shiro snapped. This was the Blade of Marmora Trials all over again; for weeks Keith had been growing distant, lost in his thoughts, and refusing to speak to anyone about it. He had assumed it was just stress from having taken on the responsibility of caring for the abandoned child. Apparently, there had been much more mulling around Keith’s head. 

Yador dropped his gaze to the floor. “It’s not just his will. You wouldn’t understand. You walked into his battle centuries after it began. You don’t understand the toll it takes on the children, on the refugees. What he’s doing, although it hurts you, will save that child. I’m sure of it.”

Shiro did not have the patience that moment to engage in a battle of morals. His blood was boiling. “Contact the pod. _Now._ ”

\-----

The communication line was beeping with an incoming message.

_That didn’t take long_ , Keith thought with an aggravated sigh. He had hoped to be some great distance from the Castle of Lions by the time his absence was noted. _Oh well_. He was sure Yador had done all he could. 

“Well, Leen,” He glanced at the child sitting at his side, snug in her blanket, “looks like we’ve been found out.”

She cooed, peering at him with her wide, golden eyes. 

He smiled and then, steeling himself for the onslaught of accusations and harassment, put on his mask of cool indifference. He flicked on the communication line.

“Shiro.”

The man’s face appeared, pinched, strained, desperately trying to hide his annoyance. “Keith. Where are you?”

“Gone. Don’t follow.”

Shiro grit his teeth. “What do you think you’re doing? Give us your location. Now.”

“I’m sorry, Shiro,” he genuinely was, “but I can’t let you follow me.”

“Keith, this is--”

“I know you’re mad.” The young man sighed. “I know you’re disappointed—all of you. But this is something I have to do. I was putting you all in danger before, but now there’s two of us for Zarkon to track. It isn’t safe for you and it isn’t safe for her.”

Pidge shifted uncomfortably in her seat, looking for the Galra baby in the screen. 

Shiro shook his head, feeling a bit lightheaded. How had he allowed matters to get so out of hand? “We can protect you, Keith; BOTH of you. No matter your blood, we can keep you safe.”

The beginnings of a smile touched the corners of Keith’s mouth. How he wished he could believe that. “Sorry, Shiro. So long as the Galra can track us by our blood, you aren’t safe. If we hide among the Galra, we can be safe. We’ll just be two more Galra in a sea of them.”

The bridge was quiet. It was obvious that Keith had thought his move out carefully and he was not backing out. Lance and Hunk turned their eyes from the screen, feeling an emotional chasm opening inside them at the notion that their teammate, one of the original paladins, was disappearing for good. 

On screen, Keith deflated, his mask falling and shoulders slumping. “I’m sorry. I wish it were different. Allura, if I could ever repay you for everything you’ve done for me, I would in heartbeat. I know none of you like this, but I’m not leaving you helpless. You have a red paladin and you’ll still be able to form Voltron. And now you won’t have a Galra beacon on your backs, bringing Zarkon’s fleets to you.”

Shiro shook his head. He refused to accept this. He slammed his palms on the control panel. “Keith--!”

“Sorry, Shiro.” He looked at the faces of the allies he had spent years fighting with, “Goodbye, everyone.”

“Keith!”

The signal cut off and the room was silent. Pidge attempted to make contact again, but the signal was not picked up. “He’s jammed it. Just like the tracking signal.”

“I told you not to teach him how to do that.” Hunk offered offhandedly, face slack and miserable.

Shiro sank into his seat, staring at the vacant air where the screen had just been. Was that to be the last time he saw Keith? No, he couldn’t accept that. They had spent years together, fighting side by side, stealing time to be alone. Keith wouldn’t just cut ties with them abruptly. He was a pack fighter, loyal to his friends. Could he really be more loyal to an orphaned Galra child? His first instinct told him no, but the longer Shiro dwelled on it, the more he wondered. Keith was an orphan too, he knew the pain of being parentless, without the love of family, without hope of love from anyone. And he was Galra. He had a bond with that child that he had with no one else on the ship. 

It was misplaced guilt that drove him, Shiro told himself angrily. After all of the destruction they caused the Galra and guilt at what his own kind had done, Keith felt somehow responsible. Tending to the child somehow must have made Keith feel absolved of his imaginary sins. 

He paced the halls ceaselessly for days, thinking of all the times he had caught Keith in the castle, balancing the child on his hip or shoulder, holding her up on her fledgling legs, speaking to her quietly in a tone so soft and loving it seemed obscene that he eavesdrop. He had never seen Keith so tender. For years, Keith had been the boy with rough edges, the capable but reckless fighter, the hot head, the fierce fighter ready to go any second. It had been a refreshing sight, to see that side of Keith. 

Maybe the infant was the best thing to happen to Keith. For Shiro, it meant giving up his closest friend and confidant, never following through on plans they made and plans he had been working the nerve to initiate. It was over, and he somehow had to accept that. He didn’t think he could.


End file.
